The Simplest Consultation


Base Opening

For open a base, use the main menu Base / Open Base onto the initial screen or click on the button Open base. After the execution of a standard dialog the system tries to load the given base. If it`s succeded, the file name will be show next to the caption Actual base followed by a description of the base. If the base can`t be loaded, the system show a reason.

The system can load knowledge bases that are saved in a file based on the XML with the syntax of knowledge base. During the opening of a base, the system requires the file „base.dtd“. According to this file, the system makes a check of the syntax. The file has to be placed in the same directory as the opening base, or the „Directory with file base.dtd“ must be set into the system options. Without this file, the system coudn`t open any knowledge file.

If you open a knowledge base in the time, when some other base is loaded in the system, this old base is automatically closed. It comes to this, that only one base can be opened in the system.

Start Consultation

A consultation can be started in the situation, when some knowledge base is loaded in the system.

You start the consultation onto the initial screen by using the main menu Base / Consult or by clicking on the button Consult.

A screen with options of consultation will appear after the start of the consultation. For the simplest consultation, all choises are seted right and you can directly click on the button OK. We will learn about this options in the chapter more complicated consultations.

After the confirmation of this options, the system start to recognize weight of goals and it give to an user questions that are needed to calculate this goals.

Question

When the system during the evaluation of goals finds the attribute whose weight can`t be infer from another propositons, a question is sended to the user. There are 4 types of questions:

• question to a binary attribute;
• question to a single attribute;
• question to a set attribute;
• question to a numeric attribute.

Question to a binary attribute: the system put a question „what is the weight of binary attribute“ and it appends the name of the attribute and its description. User has to enter a weight of the attribute next to the capton Weight. The weight is a number from the interval that is explicit to the botton of the screen (this interval is constant for whole base). If the number recedes from the 0, the answer`ll recede from the value „irrelevant“ and it`ll near the value „certainly yes“ (if the number is positive) or to the value „certainly no“ (if the number is negative).

The seted weight has to be confirmed by pressing the key Enter or by clicking to the button Confirm answer.

An alternative way is to use some of predefined answer by clickning to the button on the right section of the screen. The answer Certainly yes replaces the maximal weight from the interval, the answer Certainly no replaces the minimal weigh, the answer Irrelevant replaces the weight 0. The answer Unknown can`t be replaced by one number and you must used this button. In effect, it replaces all weights from the interval.

The button Postpone the answer transfers the answering to this question to a later time. An usage of that will be explicite in the chapter more complicated consultation.

Question to a single attribute: the system put a question „what is the value and the weight of single attribute“ and it appends the name of the attribute and its description. An user has to choose an answer to the selection box and assign a weight to this answer by the same way as to the binary attribute.

Question to a set attribute: the system put a question „what are the values and weights of multiple attribute“ and it appends the name of the attribute and its description. An user has to choose values, to which he want to specify weights, and drag this value from the box Accepted values to the box Selected values. For each selected value, he must assign a weight by the analogous way as to the binary attribute. The assigned value is showed next to the value into the box with selected values. The weight can be assigned with the buttons with one exception - the button Unknown assigns this value to whole attribute (that is to all answers) and end the answering to this question.

Question to a numeric attribute: the system put a question „what is the value of the numeric attribute“ and it appends the name of the attribute and its description. An user has to enter a value of this attribute. The value is a number from the interval that is showed on the bottom of the screen. This interval is different for each numeric attribute.

Once the user answers the question, the system continues in evaluation of the goals. If the user don`t want to contiue in the consultation, he could finish it by closing the question with the cross in right top corner.

Consultation Results

Once the system gets all answers to the questions needed for evaluation of goals, final weights are counted and the results are showed. The results are placed in a grid, where following items are given for each proposition:

• proposition`s name;
• minimal weight of the proposition;
• maximal weight of the proposition;
• status of the proposition shows, in which status is the proposition after the evaluation. There are 4 status - untouched, partial, final and provisional. Untouched means that the proposition didn`t be used during the evaluation. Partial means that the system went into it during the evaluation but finally, the weight of that proposion didn`t have to be counted. Final means that the proposion was needed and the weight has the final value. Provisional means that an user postpone some question (more informations in the chapter more complicated consultation) and the weight of this proposition could changed after answering of the postpone questions;
• type of the proposition show the kind of the proposition. The proposition can be a goal, an intermediate proposition or a question.

The results grid can be sorted according to any of these collums, only click to a header of the column. The grid is sorted by the minimal weight implicitly.

A description of the proposition (if exists) is displayed in a right upper text box after you select the proposition by clicking on it.

You can see only goals in the grid implicitly. If you want see all propositions, swich a controller Show to an item All propositions.

If some integrity constraint was broken during the evaluations, you could see it in a grid on the right side of the screen (analogous rule as on the grid with results apply on this grid). The break of the integrity constraint means that there was broken some logic in the knowlage base and in a comment of this integrity constrains, there should be some advance, what to do to don`t break it.

You close the screen with results by clicking on the button Close in the right bottom corner. The whole consultation is finished by this.

Results of the consultation can be exported to files or to the Excel application (if you have it). Use the button Exports results in the right bottom corner. After cliced on it, you see a dialog window, where you can set the description of the consultation and where you choose a file to export (text file, html file or Excel). If you want add comments of each propositions check the Export comments choose. After the confirmation of this dialog window, you choose a external file in a standard dialog (not for Excel) and the results are exported.